Wall Street ratings agencies set the tone for today's stock market.

MINYANVILLE ORIGINAL Sylvester Stallone may be a man of monosyllables but, as someone who starred in Cliffhanger, his advice is worth heeding, especially as relates to our current fiscal cliff crisis. So when, in his Rocky Balboa guise, Sly said "ain’t nothing over 'til it’s over," boy was he on the money. The Dow (^DJI) dropped by 99 points, reversing itself after two stellar sessions, after negotiations in Washington, DC, which were previously progressing well, suddenly hit a snag. Some stocks did buck a bad day to end up.

On Hump Day, Joe Camel maker Reynolds American (RAI) rose even as Europe proposed a new crackdown on tobacco. Focus Media (FMCN), which makes digital billboards, surged 6.73% and Oracle (ORCL), which is no lover of those, shrugged off the Mayans’ dire prophecies to advance 3.68% in making a fresh 52-week peak.

Today in economics, November existing home sales and leading indicators are each out at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, as is December’s Philadelphia Fed Index. On the corporate front, CarMax (KMX), Cintas (CTAS), ConAgra (CAG), Darden Restaurants (DRI), Discover Financial (DFS), KB Home (KBH), Micron (MU) Nike (NKE), Research In Motion (RIMM), Rite Aid (RAD), and Winnebago Industries (WGO) are all due to release results.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT): Shares are initiated with an Outperform at William Blair.

American Safety Insurance (ASI): The stock is a new Outperform at FBR Capital, whose price target is $24.

European Autos: JPMorgan picks up Peugeot Citroën (PINK:PEUGY) at Underweight, has new Neutrals on Daimler (PINK:DDAIF), Fiat (PINK:FIATY), and Porsche (PINK:POAHY), and rates Volkswagen (PINK:VLKAY) an Overweight.

IEC Electronics (IEC): C.K. Cooper starts the small cap at a Buy and has a $9 target.

K12, Inc. (LRN): LRN is launched with a Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals (SNSS): Shares are initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo.

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